West Bromwich Albion travel to Villa Park in what is arguably the most rapidly growing derby in the Premier League.

West Brom fans will say Wolves are our biggest rivals, whereas Aston Villa fans will say theirs are Birmingham. But with both of those two teams stuck in the Championship, or lower, for the last few seasons, we’ve seen this fixture get tastier and tastier every season.

After Tony Pulis’ double failure at Villa last season, he has a lot of making up for us fans. The two showings there last season, which pretty much gave Villa survival and an FA Cup runners-up medal, were unacceptable.

The tactics and the players were a massive let-down, even Alan Irvine managed to pick up three points at home last term.

It’s time for the more experienced players at the club to begin to make an impact, something that has been amiss in the opening five games.

The likes of Darren Fletcher, Rickie Lambert, Boaz Myhill and Craig Gardner have been very poor and should be leading by example, especially when you consider their experience in the game.

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Captain Fletcher has been the biggest disappointment. Since joining us I feel his performances have gone downhill and especially at the start of this campaign he doesn’t look half the player that joined us in January.

His passing has been sloppy and his tackling has been weak, but what a perfect chance for the skipper to show his true mettle in the derby game.

We are unbeaten away from home at the moment, albeit down to a poor 0-0 draw at newly promoted Watford or a fluky 1-0 win at Stoke, but that is a stat we can use to our advantage going into the game.

The team talk is in place and the players should have the fire in their bellies, but what for Pulis?

His tactics have been uninspiring so far, especially last week against Southampton. We cannot take the chance and sit back against Villa; they’re a team that look vulnerable when the opposition have the ball.

Everyone in and around the club needs to step up their game. I just hope it isn’t another repeat of last season.